PsychoGenesis
by Tayoni
Summary: Takes place in an AU 2nd season. Something is possessing the young men of Smallville. But who are the real targets of this spirit?
1. Default Chapter

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This story is Episode Three of the Smallville Virtual Season.  That is, we're a group of amature writers who are writing our own version of Season Two of Smallville.

Two other stories came before this one.  It isn't necessary to read the first two stories in order for this one to make sense, but there are bits and peices that would help this one out.  Like how Lex got Clark's adoption papers and that kind of thing.  

If you want to read the other two which came before this one, you can email me Camster900@aol.com, and I'll send you the links for them.  I've tried three times to put up the address, but for some reason this sight deleted them both times.  I just hope it doesn't delete email addresses too.  If it does, click my name and you'll find my email there.

Summary:  In an Alternate Universe there's a ghost on the loose that seeks out the young men of Smallville.  The ghost's goal is to possess the boys, but it's targets are the young women.  Chloe and Clark get close to the truth, but before the final peice falls into place Clark is possessed.

Timeline:  This story takes place in Clark's sophomore year at about the time of the Homecoming Game which is usually held around Halloween.

Disclaimer:  I'm ain't making no money here.

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PsychoGenesis

By

Tayoni and the SVS Team

~*~ SATURDAY AFTERNOON ~*~ 

A well dressed man in his late thirties was standing in Lex Luthor's mansion office.  Despite the daylight streaming in through stained glass windows, the office retained a church-like dimness. Without moving from his place, a few feet away from the desk, he studied every object in the room carefully. His sharp glittering eyes didn't miss anything.  

Lex came down a narrow stairwell and entered the office.  "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Louvain."  He said as he crossed to room to his desk.

The man made eye contact with Lex.  "What is it I can do for you, Mr. Luthor?"

"I want you to look into something for me."  Lex said.  He sat down behind his desk, unlocked a drawer and pulled out a file folder.  He dropped it on the desk-top and looked up at Louvain.

Louvain stayed where he was--three steps away from Lex's desk.  His face was expressionless.  Years of experience had taught him to touch nothing until he saw some hint of permission to do so.

"This is extremely confidential."  Lex said, leaned forward in his chair.  "I don't want anyone to know anything about this investigation.  You're to make no contact with the family."

"Understood."

"Is it?"  Lex asked darkly.

"No one will know anything about this investigation."  Louvain said in an icy tone.  "What's this about?"

"The adoption of a kid by the name of Clark Kent."  Lex said and motioned at the folder.

Louvain stepped closer to the desk and opened the file.  He scanned the papers quickly.  "You want me to find his real parents?"

"His adoption is a fake."  Lex said softly.  "I want to know why."

"I've been a Private Investigator for ten years."  Louvain said quietly.  "I've handled cases like this one before.  Usually the kid in question turns out to be the result of some forbidden affair.  Small towns like this have a habit of keeping dirty little secrets."

Lex smirked very tightly.  "Mr. Louvain, Clark's parentage isn't what concerns me, although that obviously is an important factor.  There's something more going on here, and I want to know what it is."

Louvain nodded.

Lex dropped a yellow envelope on top of the file folder.  "For your expenses."

Louvain picked up the folder and the envelope.

"Contact me when you find something worth my time."  Lex ordered.

Louvain nodded his head and walked out of the office.

~*~ SATURDAY EVENING ~*~

Lana Lang was sitting on her heals in front of her parent's gravestone, talking to them quietly.  "I was kind of hoping that Clark would ask me to the dance tonight, but he asked Chloe..."  Lana told the gravestone.

A presence hovered yards away from her, too far off to hear that private and one-sided conversation.  It looked at her from one side of a Sycamore tree.  Lana's voice carried, but her words were unclear to the listener.

A car went by on the road a half mile away, and Lana lifted her head to look at it.  She could only see a pair of red tail lights fading off into the darkness, but she knew it was Chloe's car.

There was a noise of rushing wind to her left.  When she looked in that direction, there was nothing more than a Sycamore tree standing there.

Lana turned her head the other way, and stared in the direction of the road.  She felt certain that something had just left the graveyard and gone in the same direction as Chloe's car.  "I better go get ready.  I didn't know it was this late."  She told her parents and rushed to get home.

~*~

Chloe's car whooshed past a street sign, and a few seconds later, a rushing sound of a small wind could have been heard in the same place.  The sign rattled, but nothing could be seen that might have hit it.

~*~

Inside the car, it was warm.  Chloe was driving and talking to Clark who was in the passenger seat.  She was nervous about trying to go to another dance with him.  Rather than acting that way, she released her tension by cracking jokes.  "...and then Pete sneezed so I called him a pig."

Clark listened to every word she said very intently, but he was too nervous to really concentrate.  He stared at the road, then glanced at Chloe.  Why had she called Pete a pig?

"You're not laughing."  Chloe said, looking away from the road just long enough to glance at him.

"If he sneezed, you should have said bless you."  He said looking at her innocently.  "I don't get it."

Chloe glanced at him again, scowled and then burst out laughing.  How could he not get that?  It was so simple!  "You're not supposed to get it, Clark.  There's nothing to get!  It was a joke!"

"But...jokes have a punch line."  He whined at her.

"Some jokes are punch lines."  Chloe laughed at him.

~*~

A racing spirit chased Chloe's vehicle.  The distance closed and the spirit slowed down as it approached the rear window.   For a few seconds it matched the speed of the car, following very closely.  Then, it focused on the barrier of the window, and forced itself into the car.  The impact of the spirit's passing through the rear windshield made the car bounce violently on its shocks.

~*~

Inside the car Clark gasped as it rocked, and he turned around to look into the back seat. 

"Thought someone got out here and fixed the potholes on this road.  You okay?"  Chloe asked, but watched the road as she turned.

"Yeah.  Fine."  He said in a shaky voice.

"That's not a convincing tone, Clark."  She said, and glanced at him, looked again at a very pale face and wide open nervous eyes.  "My driving bugging you?"

"No!  Not at all.  Just...nervous about the dance."  

"Afraid you might ditch me again and I'll beat you over the head with my laptop?"  She wondered in a jovial voice, but there was really nothing funny going on in her head.

Clark turned his head and gave her a wide eyed nervous look.  Maybe he'd detected a tiny note of roughness in her tone which she hadn't meant to put there.

Chloe grinned and then looked over at him.

Clark smiled back, relaxed into his seat and then looked at the road through the windshield.  "Nah.  You wouldn't hit me with your laptop Chloe."

"True.  I wouldn't want to break it.  I'd just borrow one of Lex's cars and run you over, then reverse to make sure I'd done the job right."  

Clark's eyes popped open wide and he turned his head to stare at her.

"Relax, Clark!  You take everything too seriously.  I was kidding!"

He laughed hollowly, cleared his throat and peaked backwards, and gulped because he felt something looking back at him.

Chloe glanced away from the road at him, and saw him looking backwards again.  That was the third time she'd noticed him doing that.  Was he that nervous?  "What?  You think the Sheriff's chasing me?"

"Uh...no..."  He said and snapped his head around to look at the road again.

"Right.  Sheriff chasing me."  Chloe smiled brightly.  "We'll jump a gorge, shout out a Yee-haa, and leave him in a tree when he tries it, right?"

"Ha-ha."  Clark said, and he didn't let himself look in the backseat again.  He could feel something looking at the back of his head.

~*~

The school's parking lot was lit up brightly, and a banner was stretched between two light poles.  Music drifted over the loudspeakers all around the grounds.  Gangly boys dressed handsomely in dark tuxedos, and starry eyed girls in colorful flowing dresses meandered uncertainly toward the school's main entrance.  

A powder blue car with a ripped fender and rust spots marring the paint job squeaked to a halt in a parking space, and groaned as the engine stopped.  A young man with a lot of pimples got out of the driver's side, rushed around to help his date out of the passenger seat.  He got the door open just fine, but when he reached his hand out to help her, he accidentally hit her in the head.

"OW!  YOU IDIOT!"  She hollered and rubbed the spot on her head.

"I'm sorry!"  He whined, and his face turned bright red.  He made a forward move to help her.

"Back off nerd-boy!  I'll get out by myself!"  she ordered and glared at him.

He backed up too fast and almost fell over backwards.  "I'm really sorry, Heather!"  He whined at her again.

She got of the car, and this time, he just stayed out of the way.  The door was left open, and he closed it.  His date marched across the parking lot, and he jogged after her.

The girl he followed was a strawberry blond beauty in sparkling pastel green, but her attitude was sickening.  She touched the arm of a dark haired girl in a pink dress.

The girl in pink turned around, put her hands on her hips and glared at Heather.  "What?"  She demanded.  

"You have got to be playing a trick on me!  I cannot be seen with this acne infested, micro-chip chomping dork!"  Heather said in a scalding tone and motioned at her date.

The boy stiffened, backed up, turned around, and walked away.  He didn't hear anything else the girls said to each other.

~*~

"We had a deal."  The girl in pink said darkly to Heather.

Heather glared at her, and watched the girl in pink put a hand on the arm of her own date.  He was a big husky boy with a square head and a brush cut, far from handsome.  At least he wasn't a dork, Heather thought.

Patty scowled at her, and the look turned her pretty face, ugly.  "You want to stay in my popularity club then you do what I say.  Go get him before he leaves!"

Heather exhaled furiously, but went off to find her acne infested date.  She spotted him walking dumbly across the parking lot, and she didn't think he was paying attention to what he was doing.  A car was coming!  She cringed and almost screamed, certain it would hit him.  But then the horn blared and scared him.  She thought he did some kind of stupid looking--dorkified, leaping--convulsing--heart attack maneuver to get out of the way.  At least he didn't fall in the mud, she thought, and rolled her eyes and walked toward him very slowly.

~*~

The boy felt like a complete moron because he couldn't even leave this miserable night behind in a dignified fashion.  A car almost hit him when he started to cross the lot, the horn blared, and it scared the hell out of him.  He jumped to get of the way and into a safe space between two parked cars.  He leaned against the antique red car, which belonged to Chloe Sullivan, and felt grateful for his life even if it was miserable.

~*~

Something inside of the car that could not be seen by human eyes was looking at the kid.  It rose upwards, focusing on its intended target, and then glided through the closed window.  The window rattled.

~*~

The boy shuddered and inhaled deeply as the spirit penetrated his body.  For a second his body and eyes glowed a soft shade of blue.  When the glowing stopped, he breathed and blinked as though clearing his head after sleep.  He turned around and bent to look at himself in the car's window, touched one of about a hundred huge zits on his face.  "Now here's a square if I ever saw one."  He said, then looked just to the right and saw a strawberry blond girl coming his way.  His left eyebrow lifted and the right side of his mouth grinned.  "What the heck?"  He looked back at his reflection, noted the bow tie was all-wrong, pulled it apart and fixed it.

He was giving it a final tug when the girl approached him, walked by him, and kept going.  "Let's go, Drew!"

He caught her hand before she was two strides away from him, tugged her close, and spoke in a voice that wasn't whiny at all.  "What's you're hurry, gorgeous?"

Heather raised her brows.  "Can we please just get this over with?"

He grinned suavely, and lifted her hand in his, locked his eyes to hers.

She couldn't help but to stare back at him.  Something was very different about him.

"We're here, and we're dressed and you're a beautiful lady.  This night will never happen again.  Let's have a good time, okay?"  Drew said in a warm tone.

"uh..."  She stammered, suddenly feeling nervous.  "Sure."

Eyes still locked on hers, Drew pulled her hand into the crook of his elbow, and walked her slowly toward the school's main entrance.


	2. Part 2

~*~

Streamers, colored lights, scattered balloons, lunch tables clothed in pink and topped with roses in slender vases, all transformed the school's gymnasium into a Homecoming Dance fantasy.

Chloe was glad that she'd given the photography duty of this event to other Torch employees.  This left her free to enjoy Clark's company.  She leaned on him and together they danced slowly even though the music was fast and pumped full of a heavy beat.  She got a tighter hold around him.  Just to be on the safe side, she wasn't going to let go of him.  She wanted to be sure nothing would ruin this night for her.

Clark wasn't feeling so comfortable.  Every so often, he felt something prickling at his neck.  His head felt like a bowling ball on a gangly spring.  It was the same feeling he'd had in the car and he wanted it to go away.

His eyes were drawn to another dancing couple again and again.  They were waltzing, and the boy moved with the kind of suave confidence that oozed from people like James Bond and Lex Luthor.  "Drew's here with...I think that's Heather."  Clark told Chloe.

She lifted her head up and looked to the other side of the gym, and saw them waltzing gracefully.  "Wow!  I thought you were kidding."

Clark shook his head and watched while Heather went back into a dip over the arm of her very suave boyfriend.

"Never thought he'd have the nerve to even ask a girl to go on a date with him."  Chloe said looking at the couple.

"Maybe someone made her to go out with him."  Clark suggested.

Chloe gave him a confused look.  "Huh?"

"Nothing.  Just a joke."  Clark said and smiled innocently, and locked his eyes to hers.

Chloe smiled up at him.  Whatever the joke was, she didn't care.  His big blue eyes were sappy and beautiful, and she knew he was about to kiss her, and she'd been waiting for this moment since school had started.

Clark's lips parted and he let his head go down toward Chloe's.  The onset of the kiss was much faster than it had been at the Spring Formal.  He was afraid if he didn't move quickly, there'd be an interruption and he'd feel obligated to run off and save Lana's life.  When their lips touched, he let it all slow down.  Clark Kent forgot where he was, and didn't hear a single note of the wailing music, and neither did Chloe.  For both of them, the kiss went all the way down and made their toes tingle.

When they parted, both of them smiled stupidly.  They were both moving in the gentle wave of slow dance but neither of them knew it.  Clark could still taste sweet lip-gloss and feared he'd set something on fire with his heat vision.  So, he focused upwards at non-flammable pipes.

~*~

Everyone settled at tables, and quieted to whispering.  The class president walked onto the stage wearing a serious expression and introduced last year's Homecoming Queen, and her escort for the evening.

Music played, and a red carpet was rolled out quickly.  Young photographers leapt into good places.  The main doors of the gym opened, and a lovely lady in white wearing the silver crown of the Homecoming Queen entered the gym from the door furthest away from the stage.  Her white gloved hands rested delicately on the arm of a young man who looked extremely shocked to be in that position as he escorted her over the red carpet.  He walked slowly with her on his arm, all the way to the podium before he released her.  

Lana Lang stepped up to podium, thanked the class president and then introduced herself as last year's Homecoming Queen.  She made a pretty speech while ballots were passed around the room.  She mentioned that the Homecoming King was unavailable because he was serving in the Marines.  Lana talked about Whitney, and important events which had taken place since last year's Homecoming dance.  While she talked, people drank punch and voted for the next Homecoming Queen.

Clark wasn't staring at Lana Lang for once, thank goodness.  Chloe didn't care what he was looking at, so long as it wasn't Lana.  A pair of ballots arrived at their table, and Chloe saw the name Patty Vandalla on the ballot.  She wasn't about to pick her, even if she knew that girl would win.  She checked a different name without even reading whose name it was.  Cameras were flashing madly, and music played at a low volume while Lana finished her speach.  Everyone clapped, and the Torch's photographers went leaping around to get pictures of Lana and her date as they descended to the dance floor.

"Clark, are you okay?"  Chloe wondered.

"Fine."  He told her, but his voice was far from even.  He kept glancing over at Drew who was sitting at the next table behind Chloe.

"That was some kiss, Clark Kent."  She said and beamed a smile at him.

She got one of his best puppy looks in return, and then a broad smile.  Neither one of them noticed it when someone came along and collected their ballots.

~*~

"Bradford Tammond and Patty Vandalla are the new royal couple for this year's Homecoming Dance!"  Lana Lang called out and clapped her hands wildly.

People burst out into screeching applause.  A dark haired girl in a pink dress rushed up onto the stage with her large square headed boyfriend.

Camera's flashed insanely while Lana Lang retired her crown, and passed it on to the new Homecoming Queen.  The moment Lana set the crown onto Patty Vandalla's head, music burst into the gym.  Sparkling confetti and balloons rained down on the stage.  After a quick speach, the new Homecoming Pair went to the dance floor and Lana went to the dance-floor with her date as well.

Chloe and Clark went to the dance floor with the rest of the crowd when the next song began to play.  Clark felt a shivery sensation roaming up and down his spine.  He felt like something was watching him, and he didn't like that feeling.  The sensation made him turn around to look at Drew, who was looking directly at him and Chloe over the shoulder of his own green clad date.  It was a look which made Clark feel very nervous.

~*~

The Kent farm felt like a quiet sanctuary to Clark after all the crowded noise and confusion of the Homecoming dance.  He and Chloe climbed the front steps of the house.  Clark rarely used the front door of his own house, as it was reserved for special occasions, and important company.  He and Chloe stood facing each other, knowing what was to come, but they stumbled over silly small talk.  Neither one of them understood why they felt so nervous, or why they said so many silly things.  They both quit talking, and leaned in for a kiss.  Love, innocence and curiosity burned between them in a sweet and gentle moment.  They felt the earth spinning in its orbit, and heard the stars singing lullabies to them.

Chloe smiled brightly at Clark, who stared back at her, slightly cross-eyed and smiling idiotically.  Poor Chloe feared she'd fall on her butt while she made the journey down the stairs, and then worried about hitting her head while she got in the car, then worried about crashing the car as she drove off, waving to Clark.  She wondered if there was such a thing as driving under the influence of a kiss.  The silly smile didn't fade off her face until long after she'd passed the border of the Kent's farm.

~*~

Clark had no idea at all how long he stood on his front porch staring at the settling dirt left behind by Chloe's car.  He hadn't remembered to tell Chloe thanks for giving him another chance.  He hadn't remembered to tell her he'd meet her somewhere tomorrow to help her go over the pictures of the dance.  He was too preoccupied by the memory of that last kiss to even remember to feel stupid.

He turned to go into the house and walked into the door with a loud thump, he bounced off it and flopped backwards onto his butt with a louder thump.

Now he felt stupid.

~*~

A powder blue car with a dent in the fender pulled into an alley in Smallville.  The driver was Patty Vandalla and she still wore her Homecoming Queen crown.  Drew was in the backseat of the car with Heather, kissing her.  She pulled her head back to look at him.  "You're not such a dork after all."

"Thank you, Miss Heather."  He said, and resumed kissing her.

A greasy man came out of the shadows, and took a wad of money and a list from Patty Vandalla.  He walked away with the money, and twenty minutes later, he returned and delivered three brown bags.  Patty looked through them.  She selected three bottles of liquor and handed them to the greasy man as a reward.  Before he could complain and say his payment wasn't good enough, she hit the gas pedal and drove away.

Drew helped himself to one of the bottles, opened it and guzzled down hard liquor.  Heather was shocked to see someone like Drew drink like that.  "Hey, slow down!"  She gasped, and grabbed the bottle from him.  She was about to say more, but Patty interrupted.

"Maybe you should save some for the people who paid for it."  Patty sneered, looking at them both through the rear-view mirror.

Drew lifted his brows, ready to say something to put the brat in her place.  Heather saw it coming, and cut him off.  "Where we going, Patty?"

"The barn."  She said sounding annoyed.  "Like Duh!"

Heather scowled.  Drew shrugged, and pulled her close to kiss her.

~*~

There were about thirty teenagers making out and getting drunk in the barn.  Drew and Heather were off in a quiet corner by themselves.  They were hidden behind bales of hay in the loft.  Their bodies were pillowed by a thick layer of hay, and an empty bottle stood in a corner.  Drew didn't seem to be the least bit drunk though.  He was doing an excellent job of kissing Heather's lips, and neck.  

His hand found the zipper on the back of her dress, and pulled it down easily.  Heather made no objections to what he was doing, but he got no further.  He stiffened, and gasped in pain.  

"What's wrong?"  Heather begged.

He choked on a cry of pain, and doubled over.

"DREW!"  Heather cried anxiously.

He threw his upper body and arms upwards, mouth opened wide.  His body glowed in a pastel blue haze for a second and he screamed.  

Heather screamed with him.  Drew fell over on top of her, and passed out.

~*~

A sickly old man opened his tired eyes, and let out a sound of utter disappointment.   He was strapped to a hospital bed, wearing an I.V. and an oxygen mask.  In his right hand, he clutched at an object that glowed a soft shade of blue, then faded.  The object was practically buried in his old fist.  All that could be seen of it was the head of a carved wooden bird which had a pair of inset blue gemstone eyes.

The old man grunted, closed his eyes.  After a moment, the bird glowed again, and the old man smiled softly.  A wind rushed through the room, and then the window rattled in its frame.


	3. Part 3

~*~ SUNDAY AFTERNOON ~*~

Chloe walked into the Talon, and found it was a lot busier than usual for a Sunday.  The whole place was full of murmuring voices, occasional shrieks of some little kids, and plates and spoons clicking together.  Almost every table was occupied and it looked like Lana had called all her waitresses to come to work.  She found Clark in the usual booth and settled into the seat opposite from him and matched his bright eyed greeting with an even brighter smile.

"Coffee, Chloe?"  Lana called from behind the counter.

"Regular extra large, with a shot of espresso."  Chloe said.

"What do you want, Clark?"  Lana asked while she loaded donuts and cups of coffee onto a tray.

"Chocolate Cappuccino, extra syrup."  He called to her as she walked behind her counter.

Lana got the Cappuccino machine busy and then walked off to another table to deliver a tray full of hot cups of coffee.

"I have got to show you something really weird."  Chloe said excitedly and took some pictures out of her bag and put them on the table.

The first one he saw was from last night's dance.  There didn't seem anything wrong with it except for a glitch around Drew.  He lifted the picture into the sunlight coming in through the Talon's window.  "Looks like the film messed up."

"I thought the same thing at first.  Look at the rest of them."  Chloe said and pushed more pictures toward him.

He shuffled through almost forty other pictures, some were of him and Chloe.  He noted that the only ones which seemed to be flawed were the ones of Drew.  Every single photo of him showed a blue halo of light around him.  No other object in any of the pictures had been effected the same way.  "Chloe've you been playing with your photography software again?"

"No.  I swear Clark, this is not a joke!  I can prove it and let you see the negatives if you want."  Chloe motioned with one hand toward her bag.

Lana came along and put a tray down for them, unloaded three coffees and a plate of donuts and slid into the seat next to Chloe.  "You guys have fun last night?"  She asked as she pulled her coffee cup close.

"Great."  Clark said and smiled at Chloe. 

"Yeah.  Very good time."  Chloe said with a smile.  She took the lid off her coffee cup, and poured in a little cream and a little sugar.  "How was your date?"

Lana's lips spread into a grin while she stirred her coffee.  "Steven's a better dancer than I thought he'd be."

"Kind of surprised me when you asked him to go with you."  Clark said with a teasing grin.  He ripped five sugar packets open and dumped them into his cappuccino.  Chloe noticed it and made a face at him.

"I needed a date, Clark."  Lana said, oblivious to the fact that Clark was overdosing on sugar.  "If I'd waited for him to ask, I'd still be waiting.  I would have had to borrow you from Chloe for a few minutes."

Chloe turned her head to look at Lana, one brow was up, and the other down.

Lana grinned and her eyes sparkled with humor.  She leaned over the table to whisper into Clark's ear, but loud enough for Chloe to hear it anyway.  "Something tells me she wouldn't have liked that very much."

Chloe laughed at that, and so did Clark, who was stirring yet more sugar into his cappuccino.

Lana looked down at the pictures on the table as she resumed her seat.  "Funny you should have pictures of him, Chloe."

"Funny how?"  Chloe asked.  "Weird funny, or humorous, or..."

"Coincidental."  Lana said.  "You gonna do an article on him?"

"Why would I do an article on him?"  She asked and looked very intrigued.

"I thought you already knew."  Lana smiled and wagged a finger at Chloe.  "It's not something I should be repeating, and you know..."

"Out with it, Lang!"  Chloe joked at her.

"Okay.  Fine!"  Lana scowled down at her coffee.  "Drew's sister found him in the car this morning, in the driveway.  He was in the back seat passed out drunk."

"So, he had a little too much fun.  That's no big deal."  Chloe said and looked and sounded disappointed.

"Not until you find out he drank so much they couldn't wake him and that he's in the hospital right now."  Lana said, brows raised.

Clark almost choked on his coffee.  "He okay?"

"He'll probably be fine."  Lana said and turned her head in time to see Lex had coming through the front door.  She had to giggle as he was nearly trampled by a waitress.

"Nice to see the place so busy."  Lex said strolling to the table.

Chloe looked up at him, and Clark turned his head, both grinned at him.

"It is."  Lana agreed with Lex and smiled.

"Nowhere to sit though."  Lex looked down at Clark, who slid over in the booth seat to make some room for him.

Lex watched the Talon's waitresses roaming around with beverages and plates full of donuts and other baked goods.  One of them came straight at him, put a cup of coffee down for him and rushed off before he could thank her for it.

"Homecoming game got everyone out of their houses, and then brought them all here."  Chloe said.

Lex nodded.  "Community events always kick up business."

"Now I see why you sponsor them so much."  Lana said resting her chin on one fist.  "I think we should have more school dances."

Lex bantered to Lana about what events were the most likely to succeed in luring people into shops.  Lana was eager to learn and she absorbed every word he said.  Chloe and Clark both sat back wishing they even knew what the two of them were talking about.  After too much of it, they quit caring.

Clark heard the door open, then shut.  Immediately, he felt a tingle in the back of his spine, which became an icy sensation.  It was the same feeling he'd had last night when Drew had gotten anywhere near him.  He wanted to turn around and look behind him, but was afraid if he did, he'd see Drew giving him a creepy look.

"What's wrong?"  Lana asked.

He snapped his head up to look diagonally across the table at her, ready to answer.  She wasn't looking at him though, but at Lex, who'd stopped speaking in mid-sentence.

Lex had completely forgotten what he'd been talking about.  He felt a horrible icy sensation creeping along the back of his neck, and knew someone was walking up behind him.

"Hey, Lana."  A blonde boy about Clark's age stepped close to the table and looked down at Lana.

Lex suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable and avoided looking at the boy standing within arm's reach of him.

"Hi Steve."  Lana said looking up.  "Didn't even see you coming.  Want some coffee?"

"Sounds good."  Steve told her, and glanced at the others at the table, but took no real notice of them.

"Hey, Steve."  Chloe said.

"Hi."  He said quickly and looked back at Lana.

Clark gulped and forced himself to not shudder.

Lex wrapped one hand around his coffee cup and stared at his reflection in the dark surface of the liquid and hoped he didn't look as scared as he felt.  If that kid didn't move soon, he'd have to make an excuse to get out of here. 

"Lana can I talk to you?"  Steve wondered.

"Sure."  She told him and got up from the booth seat.

Clark repressed a shiver.

"You okay, Clark?"  Chloe asked, brows raised with concern.

~*~

"I'm fine, Miss Lana."  Steve said and leaned against the counter.

Lana looked up at him, concern in her expression. "You sure?"  she wondered.  "You're face is really red."

"Too much fun last night with a lovely lady,"  he told her and grinned lopsidedly.

"Flattery."  Lana smiled.

"Could you get me something?"  He asked, turning his head.

"Anything that's on the menu."

He smiled as though she'd just told a cute little joke.  "Chamomile tea, a double and put six bags in the cup."

Lana made a face at him, but went behind the counter.  "Little strong, don't you think?  One cup of this is enough to put you to sleep."  She put a large cup on the counter, then dropped six tea bags into it.

"Well, you my fine lady got me pepped right up.  I need something to bring me back down to earth."  He said and his eyes sparkled as he looked down at her.

Lana pushed the beverage toward him over the counter.  "Steve, you didn't get the wrong idea last night.  I thought I made it clear that..."

"I had a really good time last night."  He interrupted and looked a little hurt.

Her mouth opened, and she sighed.  "Steve, we need to have a talk."

He snatched her hand and smiled.  "You're right.  Let's go for a spin."

~*~

Lex didn't pick up his coffee cup because he feared he'd drop it.  Steve wasn't close to him anymore, but he still felt chilly and nervous.

"She must have shaken him up last night.  Usually he says more than 'hi' to people."  Chloe commented as she sipped at coffee.

Clark looked over Chloe's shoulder to watch Lana and Steve talk.  He'd seen Lana give Steve an odd look while she pushed a beverage toward him.

"Chloe,"  Clark said.  "let me borrow your camera."

"What?"  She gave him a look suggesting he was a nut.  

He lifted his brows at her and gave her a puppy eyed look.

Chloe reached into her bag and handed her digital camera to him.  Clark turned it on and aimed it at Steve.  He didn't even have to snap a picture, because the boy's blue glowing image showed up on the screen of the digital camera.

Lex looked at the screen of the camera in Clark's hand, saw the aura effect around Steve and looked up at the real version of him in front of the counter.  Then, he noticed pictures on the table of a different kid with the same aura around him.  His hands tightened around his coffee cup.  He might have asked what was going on, but didn't get the chance.

"Chloe, something's going on.  Take a look at this."  Clark said brows up in surprise.

Chloe leaned over the table careful to not block the camera's view.  "That's really weird."  She looked up at Clark, expression bright.  She was intrigued.  "How'd you know that..."

Clark gave her an innocent look and shrugged.  "Hunch."

Lex hadn't said a word since Steve had gotten three feet from him.  Something about that kid was all wrong.  He could draw numerous conclusions, but only one fit.  He didn't want to mention to anyone though that he thought the kid was possessed.

He heard Lana hiss, and looked up at her.  The blonde kid grabbed a hold of her wrist and said something only Lana could hear.

"Chloe...?"  Clark whispered, and gave her a pathetic look.

Chloe looked at him, then turned her head and looked back at Lana, and sighed.  "Go ahead.  Save her life again.  I'll just...sit here and play with my camera."  She told him and took it out of his hands.

"Lex, let me out."  Clark said already shoving his way out of the booth seat.

~*~

"Steve, I can't go with you!"  Lana said, loud enough for half the people in the coffee shop to hear it, then tried to tug her arm out of his grip.  She failed.  "Let go of me!"

He grabbed her other wrist and pulled her to him.  "Don't be like that, Lana!"  

~*~

"Lex!  Move!"  Clark ordered and pushed him.

~*~

"Steve, let me go or else!"  Lana growled as she struggled to get her wrists out of his grasping hands.

~*~

Lex got up too fast, startled by Clark's tone.  His coffee spoon went to the floor and clattered on the tile.  Clark went past him too fast and almost knocked him over.  If Chloe hadn't shot her hand out to steady him, he would have fallen on his face.

~*~

Clark went toward Lana and Steve, ready to break up the fight.

~*~

Chloe had her hand on Lex's arm, and she could feel him shaking.  That startled her into looking up at him.  There was a thin veil of sweat on his pale face.  Something was up with him.  He wasn't the type who got scared by anything, and she knew he wasn't sick.  "You don't look so good."  She whispered and urged him back into the booth seat.  He slid over to where Clark had been sitting, and then she sat down next to him.

She picked up her camera and watched the action through the screen.  She knew very well that Lana didn't need Clark's help out of this one.

~*~

Clark felt a little bit colder for every step he took toward Steve and Lana and his progress was slowing.  

~*~

Steve pulled and tugged at Lana.  "Just a little ride."

"I told you!  No!"  She said angrily and tried to trick him by twisting around.  His hands kept a firm grip on her wrists though.

~*~

Chloe knew damn well that Clark wasn't going to get there in time.  She watched through her camera and kept her finger ready on the button.

~*~

"I SAID LET GO OF ME!"  Lana shouted angrily and brought her knee straight up into Steve's crotch.

~*~

Chloe snapped a picture of Lana shoving her knee up hard and fast.  "Now that's one for the front page!"

Lex's eyes opened wide and he, along with every other male in the coffee shop, cringed with sympathy for Steve.

~*~

Steve let out a howl and he fell to the floor.

~*~

Clark was just three micro-seconds too late to do anything for Lana.  Steve landed at his feet groaning and holding his crotch.

The whole shop had gone quiet.  Men were making faces, and little girls were staring at the sight with eyes wide open.

~*~

Steve lay on the floor groaning until a man in his sixties took pity on him and came along to help him to his feet.

"They're...they're a lot meaner than they used to be."  Steve squeaked and hunched over.

"You don't know the half of it."  The old man told Steve, holding him up by his upper arm with one hand, he grabbed the Chamomile tea off the counter with the other.  The kind stranger helped Steve to the door, gave him his beverage and a firm shove suggesting he should leave now.  Everyone in the Talon watched the man return to his table where his wife was waiting for him.  A few people whispered, and conversation slowly picked up again.

~*~

Clark was very glad that Steve was gone, because he no longer felt cold.  He guided Lana back to the booth, and slid into the seat first, now sitting where Chloe had been, and Lana was back in her original place.  He took a sip of coffee and almost gagged on it!  That was Chloe's coffee!  It tasted like motor oil!

"You okay, Lana?"  Chloe asked in a teasing voice.

"I'm fine."  She said, but looked a little mad.

Lex finally picked up the coffee cup in front of him to drink, but he'd forgotten he'd moved, and that was not his.  It was Clark's cappuccino.

Lana looked at Lex and spoke very frankly.  "Just hoping that playing knee-ball is one of those community events you were talking about."

Lex clamped his mouth shut, fought to not spit coffee flavored sugar all over while he tried very hard to not burst out laughing.


	4. Part 4

~*~ SUNDAY EVENING ~*~

The doors of Smallville Hospital's ER crashed open, and a pair of rugged emergency medical technicians guided a gurney into the hospital.  Steven Miller was on the gurney, unconscious, pale and shaking.  Lana Lang came through the doors behind them, hoping she could be of some help.  She stood out of the way, and tried to not listen to the EMT ticking off medical facts to the doctor on duty.  She didn't know what it all meant, but she heard it said that his vital signs were up way to high when they'd gotten to him, and now they were going down.  His temperature was down to ninety-six, and still falling.

"...clutched his chest and collapsed."  The EMT said.

The doctor leaned over Steven to listen to his heart for a moment.

"His girlfriend here found these in his car, but didn't know if he'd taken any."  The EMT said and handed a bottle of prescription tranquilizers over.  "Also he might have ingested a strong dose of chamomile tea."

"What's her name?"  The doctor asked looking up at the EMT while he continued to listen to Steve's heart.

"Lana Lang."  She told the doctor and stepped forward.

"Lana, how strong was the tea?"  The doctor asked her, while he checked Steven's eyes with a little flashlight.

"Six bags of tea in two cups of water."  Lana told him.  

"This is getting really weird."  A nurse said as she walked by.

The doctor lifted his head to give her a dark look, which the nurse ignored.

"Anything else you can tell me?"  The doctor wondered at Lana.

"Only what I already told him."  Lana said and motioned at the EMT.  "Steve came over to my house about an hour ago.  He was acting really strange, and he looked like he was sick or hot.  I asked him if he was all right, and he kept telling me that he felt just fine."  She trailed off and chewed at her lip as though considering some private thought.  She sighed uncomfortably.  "We were..."  She looked down at the floor and blushed.  "...kissing.  Then, he stopped and grabbed his chest and collapsed.  He screamed before he fell on the ground, then he was awake for a few minutes more before he passed out."  

"How was he acting after he fell but before he passed out, Lana?"  The doctor asked while taking Steve's blood pressure.

"Confused."  She nodded her head.  "He kept asking me how he got there."

The doctor's eyes sparkled with insight.  He nodded his head at a nurse, then looked to Lana.  "Can you stick around in case we need more information?"  He asked as he motioned at the EMT's.

"Sure."  She told him.

"Get him in two."  The doc said, and handed the tranquilizers to a young intern, and told her to count how many were left, and call the kid's mother.

Lana was left in the waiting room, and she sat down in a vacant seat.  She didn't know exactly what had happened to Steven, but she knew the doctor already had some idea about it.

~*~

Over the harvest ripe green fields of Smallville, a ghost  moved in the sky.  There were no physical restraints for it, and so it glided freely where it pleased to go, for as long as it pleased to roam.  Wide open spaces, rolling green hills, spaces both wild and tame were explored.  

But freedom and roaming weren't what this spirit wanted for itself.  It wanted something else.  It found the Kent farm, and rushed toward the barn.  The spirit thought that there would be enough time for roaming later.  Right now, it wanted to live again.

~*~

Pete Ross was sitting by himself in Clark Kent's loft on the sofa copying a paragraph from a reference book.  He reached over to the table to pick up another already opened book...

...but his reaching hand convulsed.  Pete Ross gasped and struggled and glowed a soft shade of blue.  Books and notes tumbled to the floor.  A moment later, he breathed deep and started looking frantically through the papers scattered around him.  His hand found a little book in a black backpack, which he opened and studied.  "Erica Fox?"  He smiled broadly and tucked the little book into his pants pocket.

~*~

Clark walked casually into the barn with cups of coffee in each hand.  "Pete, I got the coffee."  He said and started to walk up the stairs.

Pete was standing at the top of the stairs, and looking down at him.  Clark almost tripped over his own feet when he glanced up the stairs.  He took one step backwards, and his feet were on the ground again.  The base of his spine felt like it'd been turned to ice, and the sensation rushed upwards into his neck. His head felt heavy, and the hair on the back of his neck stood out.

One mug, held only by its handle, swung down lazily and hot coffee spilled to the ground.  He didn't even notice the mess he was making.

Pete walked down the stairs, stopping at the last one, and he was four inches from Clark's face.  He reached out one hand to right the cup in Clark's hand which was tipped and spilling.

Clark felt ice shooting up his arm, and he startled at the touch and dropped both cups.  One broke on the step.  The other thumped on the hard packed dirt floor.

Pete blinked at him.  "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing!"  Clark yipped.

Pete stared at him hard, and took a small step forward.

Clark felt a thudding in his chest and icecubes were zipping up and down his spine.  Words stuck in his throat.  He wanted to scream, but nothing more than a weak little whimper came out of him.  He backed away from Pete, and he meant to take only one step back, but his feet had other ideas.  Now that he was moving, he couldn't stop himself.  His backwards steps didn't stop until he'd backed up into the work bench, and knocked something off it.  The noise made him jump a foot in the air.

"You're a real Jibberony."  Pete told him and headed for the door.  "I gotta go."

Clark's eyes popped open.  The word Jibberony was said all the time by a certain wrestler whom he knew Pete hated.  He certainly wouldn't quote the man.

"Bye."  Pete said.

"Pete, don't leave!"  Clark said anxiously.  "We gotta finish our paper."

Pete stopped and turned around.  Dark eyes met Clark's and he saw a hunger in them that made him shiver.  "There's something wrong with you!"

Pete smiled broadly.  "You're the one doing the square act."

"Lemme give you a ride."  Clark said nervously.

"I'm gonna jog."  Pete said with a shrug as he walked toward the barn door.

"Pete, it's a long way home and its dark out!"  Clark objected.

"I'm not going home."  He said as though that was a silly idea.  "Don't worry about me, I'm covered."

"Where're you going?"  Clark begged and pushed away from the table he'd backed up against.  He shivered with cold and nerves.

"Just to Erica's."  Pete called.

"I thought you broke up with her!"  Clark complained.

"I'm going," Pete insisted, and dashed off down the driveway, leaving Clark behind feeling very bewildered and chilled.  It took him a minute to recover, and all kinds of wild thoughts chased around in his brain.  He had to do something!

But he didn't know if he could get close enough to Pete to do anything.  The horrible feelings which had overcome him didn't feel anything like exposure to meteor rocks.  There was no real pain.  All he could think to call it was a 'feeling' that wasn't good.  He wondered what was happening to him, and what the feeling meant.  

"DAD!"  He ran into the house to get help.

~*~

Mr. Kent was in the driver's seat, asking Clark all kinds of questions as he steered down the road.  All Jonathan could get out of his son was that he got an icy, creeped-out feeling when a boy named Drew had gotten near him.  He'd felt it again from Steve Miller.  Just moments ago, his son had sensed the same eerie cold sensation from Pete.  

None of his other questions could be answered.  Clark said 'I don't know.' too many times, and finally Mr. Kent had quit asking.  He wondered if his son was developing another new ability.  If he was, then maybe it was too new for him to be able to explain it, otherwise Jonathan was sure he would have heard something about it by now.

He drove on down the night dark road, feeling frustrated because he knew Clark was confused and frightened of something he couldn't explain.

"There he is."  Clark said and sat forward.

Mr. Kent couldn't see anything, but he trusted his son's eyes better than his own.  "Which way?"

"Left."  Clark said but pointed to the right.

Mr. Kent turned the truck right down the dirt roads that lead into the heart of the south end of Smallville.  Through the windshield and in the light of high-beams, they could see Pete on the road ahead, running as fast and as hard as a person could run.

Clark shouted out the window.  "Pete, what're you doing?  Stop!"

"Why you following me?  Go home!"  He shouted and dashed off the road, leaping over a narrow ditch, and into a corn field.  The truck couldn't follow.

Clark jumped out and chased after his friend.  "PETE STOP!"

"CLARK!"  Mr. Kent shouted after his son and slammed on the breaks.

~*~

Pete ran hard and fast, trampling stalks of corn, and flattening them to the ground.

Clark ran after him and he could stay just a few feet behind his friend, but couldn't catch him.  He was afraid to touch him.  Being as close to him as he was made him uncomfortable.  It didn't hurt, or make him ill, but he didn't like the feeling either.

They crossed the cornfield.  Clark shouted at Pete to stop.  He shouted back at him to leave him alone.  One after another, the shot out of the cornfield, and into the woods.

Clark knew that Pete was in good shape, but he'd been running to fast for too long.  He should have stopped a long time ago.  Saplings and thin gray tree trunks rushed by him, and he crashed into branches, and leaves.

"What is your problem?"  Pete shouted at him from the darkness.  "Leave me alone!"

"Something's wrong!"  Clark cried out into the darkness, and he shoved branches out of his way rather than breaking them.

"Nothing's wrong!"  Pete's voice echoed, and branches snapped and rustled as he ran through them.

"Pete!"  Clark cried out, chasing, and decided he was going to grab him no matter what the contact might do to him.  He didn't think that would be anything but a cold chill, and rushed forward to catch up with him.

Clark felt the cold seeping up his arm as he reached out, but ignored it.  He got a small hold on Pete's jacket.

"BACK OFF!"  Pete screamed at him and ran faster.

Clark grasped more of the fabric of Pete's jacket, and almost had him stopped, but he fell to his knees, gasping.  He'd expected to feel ice shooting through him when he reached out for Pete.  This feeling was entirely different.  It was pain, and nausea and weakness and soul wrenching anxiety.  At first he was confused by it.  Even as his mind faded, he grasped the stupid thing he'd done.

The pain and vertigo had nothing to do with Pete.  He'd made the mistake of not paying attention to where they were going.  The area was full of meteor fragments and now that he remembered to look for them, he could see the green rocks glowing softly all around him.

He collapsed into the stale leaves, lacking the strength to even crawl away from the meteor rocks.  His clothing absorbed cold dampness, and he became sicker and weaker, and desperate for help.

"Pete..."  He begged and tried to reach a hand out to him.  He wasn't thinking of his friend's predicament anymore though, but his own, and hoping for help.

"Leave me alone!"  Pete shouted and kept running.

Clark slipped into a stupor of nausea and mental numbness.

~*~

"CLARK!  DAMMIT!  WAKE UP!"  Dad called to him.

"mmmm..."  Clark groaned.

"Can't carry you anymore, son."  Dad said tiredly.

Clark felt himself reclined, his back leaned against something warm and he knew it was his father.  He looked up and saw the tops of tall corn stalks, and black sky dotted with stars.  He wondered how far his father had carried him.  "Dad...where...where'd Pete go?"

"You all right?"  Dad's voice begged, and a hand petted one side of his face.

"I'm gonna...I...ugghhhh..."  Clark groaned and threw himself forward onto hands and knees and let his stomach heave.  He was really glad it was too dark to be able to see what was coming out of him.  He spat, and coughed.

Mr. Kent grabbed a hold of his son just before the poor kid fell face first in the mess he'd made.  "If you got the strength for that, then you can walk on your own feet!"

"No...no, gotta...find Pete!" he complained.

"We'll worry about him, later, Clark."  Dad ordered.  "I'm taking you home."

Clark grumbled, but he was too weak to fight his father's wishes.  He was barely strong enough to stand even with a lot of help.  Walking was nearly impossible.  He didn't understand what was wrong with him.  He wasn't anywhere near the meteor rocks anymore, but he could still feel the effects.

He was barely aware of the trip home.  He remembered Dad shutting the door, and then a moment later, he felt the truck stop.  He heard voices, and a few times his mother called his name, but he couldn't answer her.  Motion made him wonder if he was being carried.  What little consciousness he had, was mostly used to alert him to the stinging, painful effects of the radiation from the meteor rocks.

"Jonathan, what happened to him?"  His mother's voice came.

Dad's voice mumbled and droned down into the darkness in which Clark hovered.  He hurt all over, and whined about it.

"Shhhh..."  Someone said, and he felt a feather light touch to his forehead.

"...shouldn't be sick like this anymore."  Dad said huskily.

"He's wet."  Mom said.  "Jonathan, the radiation from the meteor rocks probably contaminated the water he got into.  That could be why he's still sick."

"Hadn't thought of that."  Dad said.

Clark muttered a few words which even he didn't understand as he felt his wet clothes come off him.  A few minutes later, he started to feel better, and realized he was in his own bed.  Both his parents were seated on either side of him.  Neither one of them would hear of him getting up, no matter what he tried to tell them about Pete.  Mom at least promised to call Mrs. Ross.

They wouldn't listen to crazy stories about pictures of auras, and he knew they probably thought he was raving and hallucinating due to meteor rock induced confusion.  He wasn't so certain that he was in his right mind either.  He started to think about running off to find Pete, but before the thought finished itself, he was asleep.


End file.
